idleMob

Don’t let this band from British Columbia’s marketing fool you. They may paint themselves as “this is what happens when you grow up listening to metal but only had an acoustic guitar” but their influences come from all over. And their great influences have resulted in an arresting and provocative debut CD (available for download from Amazonand other places).

idleMob’s self-titled album will remind you of Pink Floyd as well as Metallica. You’ll even get flashes of Pearl Jam, Neil Young, David Bowie, and Rusted Root if you listen carefully. But all these influences add up to a sound all indieMob’s own. And it’s a sound that demands the attention of both your ear and your brain. They balance the heavy darkness of “Empty Bodies” or “Carousel” with light and lifting acoustic guitars in the Led Zeppelin inspired “Pushing Light” and “Nadine,” the Glimour-influenced “Listening,” or the Adrian Belew-like gutiar of “The Whale Song.”

The beauty of idleMob’s album is how it fuses so many diverse styles into a single narrative voice. And the music paints vivid, haunting pictures in your mind, like these from a video for “Touched By an Angel” (my favorite song of the album):

On June 8, idleMob will play a benefit for Nelson CARES at the Capitol Theatre in Nelson, British Columbia. The Vaudeville Vagabonds a performance/circus troupe will be performing to the music from this beautiful album. It sounds like once in a lifetime sort of show and you should try to make it if you’re in the area.

Meow! >^..^<